ponytailpalm

Found this out the hard way at the JFK GE booths yesterday. Despite being completely approved for GE, paying the $$$ (for both the UK and US checks!) and having the gentleman at Bowling Green explain how to use my visa in the GE booths, L1 visas apparently aren't accepted and we must still use the excruciatingly long lane. When you try to put the visa in the GE booth it says unauthorized document.

No refunds for GE.

(I'm a UK citizen by the way).

BSBD

According to what I've read, it will only fail the FIRST time you try to go through with a L-1. You have to fill out a I-94 and Declaration form, and go through primary. The next time you use GE it should work. If you didn't do that, you'll need to go through the process next time as if it was your first attempt to use GE.

ponytailpalm

Thanks BSBD, but I'm not sure how that would work? I've already got an electronic I-94 and have been in and out of the country numerous times on my L1 before applying for GE... the length of the lines at JFK are what eventually broke me enough to apply for GE.

TWA884

GE|Flux Frequently Asked Questions:

ponytailpalm

Does that mean if I didn't have Global Entry the first time I entered on my L1 then I can no longer get it?

From what I understand the I-94s are all electronic now.

I phoned up GE on their help line today and they told me L1 visa isn't compatible with GE for *UK citizens*. I find it really strange that the man who did my GE interview told me something completely different.

Is anyone else here a UK citizen on a L1 using GE? I can't believe i'm the first one to try this.

TWA884

I understand it to mean that the first time that you enter the US after your GE was approved, you must complete a paper CBP Declaration and I-94. Thereafter, the GE kiosk should be able to process your entry.

Here's a link to a PDF: I-94 Arrival/Departure Record

And: I-94 Automation - how to print a copy of your I-94 form

televisor

Just to check: did you try to place your passport photo page into the machine? I'm pretty sure you're supposed to put the passport in, and that's what I was told at my GE interview (different Visa though, and I haven't tested GE yet).

Also, did you enter your Visa as part of the GE application process? They had to manually copy my Visa details during my interview (in addition to me entering them into GOES during the initial application).

The L-1 should be permitted, it isn't listed as one of the Visas you can't use GE for:
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-t...sked-questions

As mentioned above, your first entry on any given Visa will have to be via a normal CBP agent (one person reported that they tried to use GE with a new Visa, their Visa wasn't shown on the GE screen, and they went directly to the closest border agent, while still bypassing the normal queues - so maybe you can still do that even for new Visas). After that you can go to an enrollment center and get the Visa added to your profile.

(I have absolutely no idea what happens if you have a new visa which has never been used/activated, which is added to your GE profile during an interview outside of the US. Presumably it should appear on the GE screens as one of the possible entry methods, but they'd still want to question you briefly?)

awm

I'm a UK passport holder with an L1 and I've been using Global Entry for over a year. Put your passport photo page, rather than the visa page, in the GE machine to scan.

ponytailpalm

TWA884 - thanks for this. I will print my I-94 and try again next time I enter with the paper route.

televisor - I placed my visa page into the reader as the GE interviewer at Bowling Green had advised during my interview. In fact he explicitly took my passport, opened it at the visa page, motioned with it face down and said if I used my passport page to enter I would get a rude knock on the door 3 months after entry as I would be processed as entering on VWP! The border patrol person who processed me on Sunday agreed with that and said I should not use the passport page in the GE reader or it would activate VWP entry.

Which completely contradicts what awm just said too, he/she is on L1 and using his passport page without problems it seems!

televisor

I've heard that we should be shown a screen which lets us select which Visa / entry method we use, after you've inserted the passport . I'm presuming that would list ESTA and any Visas you registered, and that also implies that you insert the passport and not the Visa. (Once again, disclaimer: I haven't used GE yet, and won't for another month or so. I'm just going by a vast number of forum posts from which I've pieced together what the process seems to be like.)

(Does anyone have photos of this screen? Is there any documentation anywhere? I've seen photos of the declaration page on a test-kiosk, but I'm guessing you might not want to take photos while actually crossing the border...)

I think CBP agents are in general very confused about non-US-citizens - I would take anything they say with a pinch of salt. At my interview they weren't aware that UK citizens were eligible, and took some time to verify that I was OK to be interviewed (this was maybe a few days after the official opening, and I'd actually signed up during the UK Home Office Beta).

I myself am planning to double-check that I've entered correctly every time I do use GE, since I don't hugely trust the systems yet (IIRC the I-94 shows your status), worst case you're supposed to be able to visit a CBP deferred inspection center to correct your status in the country.

D582

Disclaimer: I am a Canadian citizen with a L1 visa and have GE via NEXUS, so this may not be applicable to you.

After receiving my L1 visa, I had to visit a GE or NEXUS office for US CBP to add this visa to my profile. It is not automatic. I had to do this for the various TN visas I had in the past as well.

When using the Global Entry kiosks, the last prompt asks about your entry method, and I am presented with choices of B1, B2, L1, or Other. L1 only appears after the visa is properly associated with your profile.

You should only use your passport page in the kiosk reader. (I don't have an actual L1 visa document anyways, but I think that's because I am Canadian and received the visa at the airport).

EWREveryweek

Just had similar experience at YYZ. Traveling on L-1 with UK passport. Managed to have long conversation with CBP officer. She said my issue likely because my passport expires before my visa. Anyone else experienced similar?

televisor

This was quite a long time ago, but: you definitely can use the photo page, and won't have any issues using the photo page in the GE machine: I'm on a different Visa, but every time I use the photo page I get presented with the option of using my Visa, Visa Waiver Tourist, Visa Waiver Business, or "other" (presumably manual processing for new visas / any other issues).

(I have a sneaking suspicion that border agents have to scan the Visa page when doing manual processing to ensure you enter on the correct Visa, which is why they then give you the "helpful advice" of using the visa page in the GE kiosk, but the GE kiosks are programmed differently and only use the photo page.)

amadeuspzs

While L1 entry via GE works for me (UK citizen), you do not get an entry stamp which is technically required (covered elsewhere in the forum).

I asked for an entry stamp at customs and was told I wasn't getting one.

So general confusion...

I have been pulled aside and warned that I didn't have a valid entry stamp when entering from e.g. Brazil and had to pay a small fee for a paper slip to be stapled into my passport.

I'll keep using GE whIle it works as my visa is valid and no one seems to know how to deal with stamps etc.

televisor

If the kiosk admitted you, it should issue a second receipt that is essentially your passport stamp. Did you not get that receipt?

If the kiosk doesn't admit you, e.g. because you got an X (Report to immigration), you'll usually get a stamp from the immigration officer - although sometimes they don't bother, in my case this has only ever happened at airports that I've already got an entry stamp from previously (i.e. the page opposite my Visa is filled with near-identical stamps for that Visa).

Stamps aren't really required nowadays regardless - the I-94 is the most important document (and that's all that the SSA and DMV will care about).

It sounds like you had to pay for a paper I-94 to be issued (needed for land border crossings). I think they're supposed to reuse an existing digital I-94 if it exists in this case, but I'm guessing they wanted proof of previous entry - that second receipt should've been sufficient, but I wouldn't be surprised if the agents didn't know it existed, I carry a printout of my most recent I-94 precisely for this kind of scenario.